When you first purchase a home, you don't always realize how much you will be spending over the next year on house and lawn equipment. It's a good idea to postpone any unnecessary expenses until after the first year. This will give you a chance to see how much you'll be spending on regular household bills such as electricity, water, etc. It will also allow you to have some money in reserves for purchases you may not be expecting. The first expense many people think of is furniture or decorations for inside the home. You may not be able to fill up every room with the furniture you currently have. I would advise that you hold off on those expenses until after the first year as well because you may be surprised at how much you will need to spend more necessary items for your yard.
Especially if you live in a state that experiences all of the seasons, there are so many things you will need to keep up with your yard. In winter, it will be crucial to have an electric snow blower to make snow removal easy. In the fall, you'll need a solution for leaf removal. You'll probably want a gas leaf blower for maximum results. If you have lots of leaves or a pretty big property, you'll probably want to look into spending the extra money on a backpack leaf blower. Since all of these items are pretty costly, you'll be glad you held off on purchasing furniture. If you think about it, you will probably agree that you'd rather not have to spend hours breaking your back shoveling snow and raking leaves so you can have a matching living room set.
The summer months can also be a big drain on your cash reserves. As the grass starts growing, you'll need to purchase either a push lawn mower, or look into a commercial quality zero turn lawn mower depending on the size of your yard. If you have a huge yard, the riding lawn mower will be nice to have, but will of course put a large dent in your savings.
Don't forget other small items such as rakes, shovels, water hoses, sprinklers, and clippers. For tree and bush trimming, look into an electric hedge trimmer to make the job much easier. If you don't like the hassle of the cord, you can always get a cordless hedge trimmer which as the same benefits of being electric without having to worry about tripping over the cord.
You'll probably be surprised at how much there is to spend, and how much more you still could get after you get the basics in year 1. In the end you will be so glad you didn't put yourself into debt buy purchasing a lot of pretty things for the house and then realizing how much the necessities cost.
